I'm Here
by SorceressOfTheOceanAndStars
Summary: It's Ellie's birthday, and Danny has decided to tell her how he came to exist as he is now. Prepare for the story of Dan and Daniel, also known as Adventurine and Angelite. Rated T for some themes, there's Pitch Pearl, a kind of Father/Son relationship for Angelite and Blue Diamond, Father/Daughter kind of relationship for Danny and Danielle. I own nothing in here except the plot.
1. The beginning

**Hello everyone! So I wanted to go back to Danny Phantom for a little while. Not necessarily quiting Kingdom Hearts, but I've been getting back into a Danny Phantom mood lately and decided to pick it up for a little bit.**

 **Think of this thing as a multi-chapter sequel to Ellie and Danny Break the Jail. It's based somewhat around The Answer, but is longer and definitely doesn't follow the episode's plot in any way unless you count the fact Danny is telling Ellie the story at night. There is boyxboy here, kind of obvious if you've read the aforementioned one-shot, but there's no cursing of anything beyond hugging here, which is strange for me considering. This au just tends to do that to me I guess, I don't feel the need to violate it in that way.**

 **If there are any specific warnings I need to point out, then they'll be at the top of the chapters. Otherwise, let's get this show on the road, and please enjoy. :)**

 **.o.o.o.o.0.0.0.o.0.0.0.o.o.o.**

Danielle "Ellie" Riter lays in bed, fast asleep when a presence hovering over her wakes her up. She tenses, about ready to lunge at who ever thinks they can attack her, before a familiar voice makes her pause.

"Happy birthday Ellie!"

At the whispered greeting, Ellie peeks an eye open and gives Danny a flat look, "it's midnight Danny."

Unaffected, Danny's smile widens, "which means, it's your birthday," he reiterates.

Ellie giggles and sits up in bed, "does that mean you're going to tell me you're a fusion Danny?" She asks, bouncing a bit. Danny snorts at the question.

"You already know about that."

"Oh...right," the thirteen year old mutters, deflating.

"But what you don't know, is how Dan and Daniel met and were able to stay as me for so long," he finishes, a mischievous smirk turning his lips. Ellie perked up at that.

"Really? Is it a story filled with danger and romance like Sidney's books?"

"Haha! Well it definitely wasn't a simple one I can tell you that much!"

"Tell me more!" Ellie says, stars in her green eyes.

Danny smiled, his mind sorting through century old memories.

"Well...it all started when Blue Diamond got a nifty new gem, a gem called Angelite...

 **.o.o.o.o.0.0.0.o.0.0.0.o.o.o.o.**

"Blue Diamond, a special gift for you has come from black Diamond; he says he hopes this one will serve you well."

"I know, it was only a matter of time that he be formed," a blue cloaked figure with a diamond shaped gem on his chest turns around, smiling benignly at the pearl that approachs him, "send him in."

"Yes, my Diamond," the pearl responds, bowing low to the ground before rising and gesturing to someone beyond the curtain, "you may approach."

A new gem steps forth, this one with a blue water drop shaped gem on his chest. The gem has powder blue skin, ice blue eyes and black hair, while wearing a white tunic with puffy sleeves, a blue Diamond design on the stomach and the strings untied half-way down from his neck to let his gem breath. Dark blue pants clad his legs and simple white shoes adorn his feet.

The gem bows low to the Diamond, "A-Angelite cut G9-11 at your service, m-my Diamond."

Red eyes take in the young male before asking softly, "why do you stutter young one?"

Angelite straightens and starts ringing his hands together, "well y-y-you see, my Diamond-"

"You are a defective."

Angelite begins trembling, fear shining in his optics as he looks to his feet, "n-no sir! I'm not- I mean-"

"You are," Blue Diamond kneels down, "you stutter because you are cold, you cannot see the time stream as other gems like yourself can; you see prism fields instead...your singing is different from other Angelites as well."

Angelite looks away to the ground, fear and shame on his face at what Blue Diamond might do. The larger gem chuckles and gives the nervous gem a kind look, "do not worry, you will not be shattered young Angelite; there is a higher purpose for you then that."

The raven looks up at that, "w-what do you mean?"

Red eyes gleam in mischief as Blue Diamond smirks, "all will be revealed in time."

 **.o.o.o.o.0.0.0.o.0.0.0.o.o.o.o.**

"He really said that?" Ellie asks.

Danny rolls his eyes, smile fond and kind of rueful at the memory, "Blue Diamond loved to answer in riddles like that; he'd never give you a straight answer when you asked, you had to figure it out yourself."

"Where does Dan fit into this though?"

Danny chuckles, "you gotta be patient Ellie. Anyway, Blue Diamond took Angelite under his wing, protecting him. Naturally, there are always gonna be people who have a problem with it...namely the ones known as Gaspeites..."

 **.o.o.o.o.0.0.0.o.0.0.0.o.o.o.o.**

Blue Diamond is sitting on his throne with Angelite nearby him as he has taken to be since he was accepted. A blue pearl, the same blue pearl that had introduced Angelite to the Diamond, gently pulled back the curtain.

"My Diamond, the-"

"Send them in," Blue Diamond cuts in, lips pursed in a thin line as the pearl bowed and ushered in two smooth green gems, who looked more like floating eyeballs with cloaks. The gems looked up at the Diamond grimly, Blue returning the expression with a very displeased one of his own while the green gems waited to be allowed to speak. Angelite ducks behind the massive throne, his eyes wide as he seen the red glow of anger flowing from them.

"What is it you wish to say, Gaspeites," Blue says, tone showing that he'd really rather not hear it. One of the Gaspeites floats forth and bows.

"Mighty Blue Diamond, we apologize for our intrusion, but it has come to our attention that you have allowed a defective gem into you ranks."

Blue raises a brow, "and if I did?"

"You must destroy it!" The other Gaspeite exclaims, "it does not fit into the Diamond authority great one! It might-"

"Might what?" Blue says calmly, "the Diamond authority is blind in my opinion, every gem that is created has a purpose, no matter what kind of gem or cut it may be."

"Outrageous!" Gaspeite responds, the red mist becoming bigger and an even darker red in the green gems anger, "the diamond authority was created for a reason Blue-"

"And we all exist to serve that reason," red eyes narrow as Blue Diamond looks down his nose at the floating eyeballs, "I'm afraid you have no right to tell a Diamond what they can and can't do Gaspeites. My reasons for keeping a defective gem are my business alone, not yours. Now could you kindly observe the curtain; your audience with me is over."

"You haven't heard the last of this Blue Diamond! The defective must be shattered! This is the will of the Diamond Authority!"

"Yes, an authority that I happen to be one of the rulers of," Blue Diamond glares down at the Gaspeites, "and as part of the radiant quartet of Diamonds, I could have you shattered yourselves for speaking in such an audacious way towards me."

The Gaspeites flee quickly after that warning, wanting to keep their gems in tact. Angelite comes out of hiding and snickers, even as he trembled a little from the eternal chill emanating from him.

"T-that was g-great Radiant One! Their p-p-prism fields turned a new shade of red at that."

Blue smiles down at the small angelite before he sighs, appearing thoughtful, "you won't be with me for much longer I'm afraid..."

Angelite gazes up at the larger gem, knitting his brow as his lips turn down, "my Diamond?" He asks, confused.

Blue just gives him a smile again, "it's nothing young one, come," he leans his hand down and Angelite sits on his palm. Blue lifts him up and sets his hand with the gem on it on the arm rest.

"Sometimes I do wish you could sing like other Angelites young one; but I'm afraid that would be too dangerous no?" Blue smirks down at him, "but if those Gaspeites return, I give you permission to sing for them...just give me some warning before you do."

Angelite looks down, biting his lip as he tries to fight back the old shame, "of coarse my Diamond..."


	2. First meeting and the Ball

"How is Angelite's voice different?" Ellie interrupts.

Danny hums, "angelites are usually known more for their singing voice, their voices can normally sooth distressed gems. Daniel was different though, considered a defective because his voice was the opposite and the cold energy emanating from his affected him."

"But what can his voice actually **_do_**?" The raven haired girl presses. Danny only grins down at her, seeming rather reluctant to explain. Ellie raises a brow at this.

"You'll find out later on. Now, let's see here...some time passes and the Gaspeites became more suspicious, prompting Blue Diamond to give Angelite a body guard. This is where Adventurine came in..."

 **.o.o.o.o.0.0.0.o.0.0.0.o.o.o.o.**

Adventurine gemstones are powerful quartz soldiers; but they are used more as body guards and for suicide missions because of their reckless nature. This adventurine is not so foolish to think he's above that stereo type, but he knows he is better at it than the others. Considered a perfect soldier by Yellow and Black Diamond, this adventurine keeps a level head compared to his more foolhardy brothers and sisters, not necessarily unable to relax when needed but fully aware there is a time and place for it. Adventurine has a mint colored skin tone and wears a green and black version of a quarts soldier uniform, a slightly darker green round gem resting in the middle of his diaphragm with a diamond cut out around it to expose it. He isn't bulky like the amethysts or even mealy like the Rose quartz's, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have the strength of a quartz.

He brushes snow white bangs out of dark green eyes as he walks through the blue halls of Blue Diamond's sector, back straight and marching with the practiced ease of a military soldier. Yellow Diamond had told him that he was going to be on duty as a body guard, but for whom He wouldn't say. Only telling him to meet Blue Diamond and he would show him. Curiosity peeked, Adventurine can't help but wonder who it was he is going to be assigned to protect. A sapphire? An aquamarine? Maybe even the great Blue Diamond himself?

Adventurine steps into the audience room, a blue pearl waiting for him as he approaches. The pearl turns and pulls the curtain back a bit, about to announce his presence when the deep voice all affiliated to the great diamond speaks.

"I know Pearl, send him in."

"Yes my Diamond," the pearl turns and the two gems nod respectfully to each other before Blue Pearl steps aside. Adventurine steps through the sheer blue curtain and salutes Blue Diamond; arms crossed with hands bending back to make the diamond insignia in front of his chest. Blue diamond waves the gesture off.

"At ease Adventurine, I have asked your presence here to protect something precious to me."

"Of coarse my Diamond," Adventurine nods, "to whom do you wish for me to protect?"

Blue looks over the arm of his throne, "come now little one."

Angelite steps forward, squinting his eyes at the sheer brightness of Adventurine's prism field. There is a large assortment of colors, orange, yellow and strangely blue being the most prominent. This gem radiates pride and bravery, belied by a calmness and protective feeling that most gems in Yellow Diamond's court usually don't have. Adventurine however took the squinting as arrogance and bristled.

"I need you to protect this Angelite to the best of your abilities," Blue Diamond goes on, "I'm afraid that others will try to harm him because of his...uniqueness."

'Uniqueness?' Adventurine mentally scoffs, 'sure he is considered a rare gem, but angelites are bobbles, not necessarily unique.'

As if reading Adventurine's mind, Blue smirks, "I assure you that this Angelite is quite different from the other ten of his kind. He is destined for great things; it would be a shame if he was shattered before his time."

Angelite trembles and the green gem curls his nose, "pardon my audacity your radiance, but this Angelite appears frailer compared to the others."

Angelite tenses, glaring the quartz soldier down, "the nerve! I assure you I am not weak!"

Adventurine smiles sardonically, "yes I suppose you aren't, but while angelites are able to sooth other gems, they are not much for being soldiers."

Angelite scoffs at that, "better than being a reckless kamikaze gem! My Diamond, you can't seriously think that this man is going to-"

"I do," Blue nods, "and I suggest that at the very least you tolerate each other; you will be spending a lot of time together after all."

Angelite's eyes widen at that, "but-!"

"My decision is final; you will not question me on this, know that this is necessary for the future."

The two smaller gems glower at each other, not looking forward to whatever future that Blue Diamond spoke of.

 **.o.o.o.o.0.0.0.o.0.0.0.o.o.o.o.**

"Wait, wait, Dan and Daniel hated each other?"

Danny laughs, "like you wouldn't believe! They couldn't stand each other at the time, it was only obligation that they remained together."

Ellie tilts her head, "but what changed?"

Danny looks up, his smile gentle, "well, they got to the point were they tolerated each other in silence after a while, but all that change the day they met the other angelites and courts..."

 **.o.o.o.o.0.0.0.o.0.0.0.o.o.o.o.o.**

Adventurine and Angelite watch as the different gem servants run to and fro, getting ready for the ball that Red Diamond planned. Though not many really care for the woman, Blue Diamond being one of the majority that doesn't, Red Diamond can throw very extravagant parties. She is nitpicky though, and demands perfection, but usually the servants are pretty good at meeting those demands. Blue Diamond has warned Angelite to avoid her however, since she has a sharp eye for imperfections.

Adventurine stands behind the powder blue gem, face stoic as his eyes sweep the room for any threats. Angelite looks around the room as well, though in his case he is checking out the decorations as well as prism fields. Blue Diamond allowed him to have time to himself, so much as it was with Adventurine always hovering around him, but it is his first time away from the larger gem and Angelite finds himself nervous, not used to being away from him unless he is in his room. Adventurine notices this and scoffs.

"Relax, with me around nothing will harm you; it is my job after all."

Angelite says nothing, shivering and wrapping his arms around himself in an attempt to stave off the chills and Adventurine rolls his eyes, unimpressed. They hardly spoke to each other, if they did it was usually waspish and laced with insults. He shouldn't expect anything less from the other. Fine then, can't say he didn't try.

The ball begins yet the two gems don't make an attempt to mingle, Adventurine because he isn't upper class and is on duty, Angelite because he is too nervous. Other gems would notice him but they don't seem to know what to do about him, which is fine with him as long as they don't try talking to him. It's not long until someone decides to approach however, a Topaz as a matter of fact.

"Hm..." she puts a finger to her chin and studies him, "you're new aren't you?" She asks in a hispanic accent, "I haven't seen an angelite like you before."

"It is because he is of Blue Diamond's personal collection ma'am," a padparadscha sapphire explains calmly. The Topaz raises a brow.

"Really? He doesn't look like much. He looks like if he shakes too hard he'll crack!" She laughs.

Angelite shrinks in on himself at the insult, prompting Adventurine to frown. When _he_ called Angelite weak, the other snapped back at him, but this clod of shiny dirt calls him out on it and suddenly he's quiet?

"Well, at least his radiance has a delicate little music box before it breaks huh?" The Topaz sneers.

"Ms. Topaz, you are upsetting people," Padparadscha warns. Topaz scoffs.

"Please, this little Angelite won't say anything when he knows it's true, right?" She gives the raven in question a sharp smile.

Angelite winces and shrinks in on himself further, trembling, and Adventurine has had enough.

"My apologize ma'am, but could kindly move along?" He says flatly, "you are upsetting my charge."

Finally noticing the quartz soldier, Topaz curls her nose at him, "your 'charge'? You're defending this pathetic thing?" She giggles in disbelief.

"Yes, I am." Adventurine narrows his eyes.

"Hahaha! He should have stayed with his Diamond if he needed protection from shattering himself!"

Adventurine locks his jaw before giving her a sugary smile, "yes, Blue Diamond himself was actually the one who assigned me to protect him. In fact, I've also been ordered to tell him of any gems who seek to cause Angelite harm in anyway."

The Topaz laughs again before registering what he is implying, "I am under Red Diamond's court! Blue Diamond has no jurisdiction over me you pathetic quartz!"

"True," the green gem nods, smirk never leaving his face, "but his Radiance can very well tell Red Diamond, and who knows? **_She_** might do something when she finds her brother angry." A total bluff, but he can make it happen if he needs to; he is one of the most trusted soldiers in the diamond authority.

"Ms. Topaz, our diamond will punish you if you keep this up," Padparadscha says. Adventurine gives a mental thanks for her not telling Topaz about how that will come about.

Topaz glances back and fourth between the three others before finally relenting, "come Padparadscha, we have no need to talk to arrogant gems who don't know their place."

"Hmph, clod meet dirt,"(1) Adventurine snorts.

"Ugh!" Topaz flounces away, her sapphire cooly following behind.

Adventurine looks over at Angelite, who has been silent the entire time, "are you okay?"

Angelite nods, "I-I'm f-f-fine," he stutters.

Adventurine sighs, "you need to stop shaking, you're giving a bad impression to others."

"It's not like I can help it!" Angelite protests, rubbing his arms. Adventurine gives him a weird look.

"Are you-"

"Attention all angelites! Please come to the stage for a performance! This is an order by Red Diamond herself!"

Angelite's eyes bulge when he hears the command, "oh no..."

"What's the matter?" The green gem asks him, smirking a bit, "too shy?"

Angelite shakes his head, "that's not it, I can't-"

Another angelite walks by and grabs his hand, beginning to drag him, "come on! It's Red Diamond's orders!" She says.

Angelite tries to dig his feet into the floor, giving Adventurine a pleading look. Adventurine is confused at this reaction, but shrugs and steps forward.

"I'm afraid that this is Blue Diamond's angelite; only he can order this one to sing."

The female Angelite keeps a blank look and rehashes, "all angelites are required to sing; no exceptions."

Angelite winces. He can't say anything because then people might start asking questions. He suddenly gets and idea, causing him to stop resisting, if he has to go solo it would be a problem, but what if...

The next thing he knows he's being pushed up on a stage with four other angelites, ranging in different shades of blue and hair color. The female angelite lets go of his wrist and clasps her hands together with the others and closes her eyes, as if in prayer and he automatically follows suit. He opens his mouth and the gems sing, no sound comes from his mouth however, and the song thankfully has no words to sing.

The occupants relax and begin to enjoy the music. Even Adventurine finds himself smiling as he keeps an eye on his charge. He can't help the thread of curiosity however as he watches Blue Diamond's angelite. The raven seems extremely tense, as if he is waiting to be called out on something. Why is it that he's worried about?

The singing stops and the attendees applaud. The angelites bow, but don't step down from the stage; even though his angelite appears to want to desperately. Adventurine knows that Blue Diamond's Angelite is a shy one, he often hides behind his Diamond's throne when other gems come in, but the poor gem looks about ready to faint from nerves at this point. Adventurine walks through the crowd and stands by the stage, prepared to help Angelite if something should happen, when Red Diamond herself approaches the stage, seeming to study the blue gems. A bad feeling drops into Adventurine's stomach like a heavy weight and the green gem bites his lip as the giant red woman speaks.

"I must say, that was quite a beautiful performance," she says, though her tone is insincere and distracted, "though I couldn't help but notice that there was one voice short of what should have been a five gem song."

The other angelites look confused as murmuring sweeps through the gems. Adventurine's charge however visibly tenses and begins shivering again, hunkering in on himself and Red Diamond's green eyes zero in on him. A sugary sweet smile turns her lips and the devil horned hairstyle of her red hair seems to become sharper, causing both gems to hold their breath as Angelite's eyes widen, knowing he has been caught.

"Perhaps, you would like to do a solo performance so we can hear your voice...if you actually **_can_** sing that is..."

Angelite's trembling increases and frost begins spreading out around his feet. His throat seems to close up and he can't speak up against the great diamond with her eyes seeming to shoot lasers into his own and everyone else watching him, judging him. Seeing his distress, Adventurine jumps up onto the stage and stands behind the other, wrapping his arms around Angelite and startling the slightly smaller gem. Red Diamond raises a brow along with the rest present who gasp in surprise.

"I'm afraid that he does not normally sing unless Blue Diamond himself commands it...your radiance," he said calmly, the title added as an after thought.

Red Diamond chuckles demurely at that, "so loyal to his assigned Diamond. And prey tell, what might you be?"

Adventurine pulls away and salutes, not noticing Angelite's small expression of disappointment, "I am Adventurine cut Y-32 my Diamond."

Red hums and puts a finger to her chin, "you do realize you're not supposed to be in this setting without reason?"

Adventurine nods, "I am here as a bodyguard ma'am."

"And who, precisely are you guarding?" She asks.

Adventurine pauses, not knowing how to answer that. Thankfully he doesn't have to because another gem comes up, a diamond in fact.

"He was assigned to protect me Red," Blue Diamond says calmly, "and I would ask you not to call a gem hunt on my servant."

Red raises a brow, leaning back from the smaller gems and surveying her 'brother', "it's just an angelite Blue, there are-"

"Only eleven of his kind in existence," Blue Diamond narrows his eyes, "need I remind you that we are going through a gem shortage at this time? We need every gem possible if we are to combat Mystic Topaz's army; one of the gems that used to be under **_your_** court?"

Red Diamond scowls at that and looks down at the two little gems, "fine. I'll leave them be, for now."

Red walks away and a mild glare from Blue makes the rest go back to the ball. Angelite jumps off stage and runs out of the large room before Adventurine can even say two words.

"Go after him."

Adenturine looks up at the large ruler of the blue and purple gems and Blue Diamond returns the look steadily; showing that yes, he was talking to him. The snow haired male sighs and jumps down from the stage, going to hunt the usually timid gem down.

 **.o.o.o.o.0.0.0.o.0.0.0.o.o.o.o.**

 **1\. "Hmph, clod meet dirt,"**

 **The full term for this would be "Clod calling the dirt worthless". Adventurine was pretty much using Home World's term for "pot calling the kettle black" or pot meet kettle. Topaz (Paulina) called him an arrogant gem who didn't know his place, but even if Adventurine is a quartz soldier he's still one of the most trusted. Angelite are considered higher class than Topaz because of their rarity, even if they are servants who stand around and look pretty, so Topaz doesn't seem to realize that she is acting higher than herself by insulting him and acting arrogant, therefore you can understand why Adventurine said what he did.**


	3. Warmth

Angelite runs to a door and the small water drop symbol on it lights up along with his gem, opening it to reveal an endless blue room with fluffy white clouds everywhere. The door closes behind him and he leaps and lands on a cloud that is a lot more solid than appearance, landing on it face first with a heavy sigh.

The room is Angelite's sanctuary, a place that he can rest and be alone when he is overwhelmed. That said, he can't be truly alone here as of late. When Adventurine was assigned to be his guard, he was also moved to Angelite's room. He never changed it or imposed in anyway, which the ravenet is grateful for, but Angelite can never be alone for too long.

As if to prove this, Angelite hears the door open again and groans, making himself sink further into the fluffy cloud.

"Go away."

A sigh, "you know I can't do that; I was ordered to come after you."

Angelite chuckles bitterly, "of coarse, always following orders; you couldn't come here because you were worried about me." 'Not that I'd want you to,' he thinks.

There is a pause, before Angelite feels the cloud move, "there...there's that too."

Angelite's eyes blow open and he looks over his shoulder at the other male who sits on the cloud with him, "you...were worried about me?" He asks in disbelief, "why? I haven't done anything to deserve it."

Adventurine shrugs, looking extremely uncomfortable. "True, you haven't, and I haven't been the best either...I'm actually not supposed to become attached to my charges, but..."

"But?" Angelite prods gently, knowing this is a delicate conversation.

Adventurine sighs, "I watch you, I'm supposed to anyway, but I can't help to watch you closer than I would with other gems I've protected. You are...very strange."

"'Very strange'?" Angelite sits up, his lips pulling back to bare his teeth and his eyebrows knitting with an emotion he knows he shouldn't be feeling; but it seems this green gem can evoke it so easily, "that's all? I'm just some anomaly to you?!"

Instead of snapping back like he normally would have, Adventurine laughs.

"What's so funny?!" Angelite yells. The green gem shakes his head.

"You are," he says, looking at Angelite with amused eyes, "why can't you be more like this?"

Angelite's anger dims and confusion mixes with it, "what? Angry?"

"If that's what it takes," Adventurine says, "I see you hide behind Blue Diamond's throne when other gems come in, at the party earlier you looked like you were about to pass out from nerves and when that Topaz insulted you you just took it. Yet with me, you don't stutter and you speak your mind,"

He chuckles again, "that's what makes you so strange," he finishes.

Angelite's cheeks darken and his finger runs along a piece of cloud at his side absently as he thinks about what to say, "I...I'm no better than a pearl, I can't talk back to a topaz or tell a diamond no."

"Angelites are ranked close to sapphires because of their rarity you know," Adventurine points out. Angelite however shakes his head.

"I'm less than most angelites too...I'm not even supposed to exist this long, the only reason I haven't been shattered is because of Blue Diamond."

"Why would you think that? You can't be less than other angelites," Adventurine says, trying to understand.

Angelite looks away, eyes dimmer than their usual brightness as he shivers yet again, "I...I feel cold, all the time. B-being a member of Bl-lue Diamond's court means I'm supposed to love the c-c-cold. I don't hate it, but I don't love it either I just...tolerate it."

Adventurine's eyes widen, "so that's why you always tremble and stutter?" He asks.

Angelite nods, "I c-c-can't sing e-either, I've never tried it but I've always k-known somehow that I couldn't. Blue Diamond confirmed it when I met him, saying my voice can shatter gems instead of sooth them."

"So you are defective..." Adventurine realizes. Angelite nods silently, "if Blue Diamond knows this, why hasn't he had you shattered?"

"I don't know," Angelite replies with a tired sigh, "sometimes I wish he would though; the gaspeites already know Blue Diamond has a defective gem, just not who it is. It's really stressful."

"I can imagine," Adventurine frowns in thought. Red Diamond already seems suspicious, but with the nosy gaspeites suspicious as well it isn't a matter of if Angelite will be shattered, but _when_. "That's why Blue Diamond ordered me to protect you then."

"That's the bases of it," Angelite agrees. A wry grin crosses his face after as he says, "you don't have to though, now that you know I wouldn't blame you for turning me in or demanding that you be moved."

Adventurine quirks a brow at that, "now why would I want to do that?"

Angelite waves a hand, "a defective is lower than any other gem, regardless of what it is; it would be beneath you to keep an eye on me after this and we both know it."

Adventurine hums, "that may be, but remember that Blue Diamond himself has ordered me to keep you safe, no matter the cost. Unless he releases me I will continue to do my job. Besides,"

Angelite glances over to find Adventurine smiling at him, "Blue Diamond has kept you for a reason, and you are much too different compared to other gems to be thrown away so easily; I happen to like it, it stirs up the collection."

Angelite's mouth drops, eyes wide as if the green gem had suddenly turned a different color, "you...I...how could you-" he shakes his head in exasperation, "you're unbelievable..."

"That would be a compliment to me," Adventurine smirks, eyes twinkling and his prism field brightening to a golden yellow, "Home World needs to accept that not everybody needs to fit into a certain mold, I would've been shattered many years ago if I followed the same reckless stereo type of my kin."

Angelite barks a laugh, surprising himself, "how do you know you aren't following it now with that kind of thinking?" He teases.

Adventurine shrugs, "then I'm becoming old and am not meant for this world for much longer after all."

Both gems begin laughing and lightly teasing each other, finding themselves talking and chatting amicably afterwards. When they quiet down to a contented silence, Angelite gets twitchy again and Adventurine asks him what's wrong.

"C-can you..." he bites his lip, unable to meet the snow heads eyes as his face darkens with a blush once more, "can you...hold me, like you did earlier?"

Adventurine blinks in surprise at the question and his own face stains into a dark green. Angelite waves his arms as embarrassment floods him, "y-you don't have t-t-to if that makes you uncomfortable! It's just you did it earlier and-" 'you felt so warm...'

For all of Angelite's existence he had always felt cold. Blue Diamond tried to help before, but he was too big and could only hold the smaller gem loosely in his hand so he wouldn't crush Angelite's physical form. He couldn't risk the other gems finding out about his condition, plus the fact that gems just don't...act that way around each other. It just wasn't done.

So Adventurine hugging him when he did, even if he never realized he was doing it, was quite a surprise for everyone, especially Angelite. Not because of the action, not completely anyway, but it was the first time he had felt _warmth_. Adventurine's prism field had enveloped him and Angelite felt safe, much safer than he ever had in his life even with Blue Diamond's protection; as if nothing could worry him and that everything was perfectly fine.

Adventurine still looks uncomfortable right now though, so Angelite sighs, shaking his head with a wave of his hand, "forget it, I shouldn't have-huh?"

Adventurine pulls the younger gem close to him before he can even finish his sentence, wrapping strong arms around him. He still feels tense, but Angelite can't pull away as he looks over at the white haired gem who was trying to hide his blush, "Adventurine?"

Adventurine shakes his head, gazing over Angelite's shoulder as he tightens his hold, "I-it's fine. I'm not normally supposed to do this but...you said you were cold right?"

Angelite's eyes widen in realization and he hesitantly hugs the other back, "y-yeah..." 'this...this must be what sunlight feels like...right?' He relaxes into the embrace with a small exhale, his eyes drooping when he feels that warmth once more, the golds and oranges of Adventurine's prism field encompassing him like a strong yet gentle blanket 'it...feels nice,' he sees an unfamiliar color out of the corner of his eye, a color that Angelite could only describe as a very washed out red hiding under the other colors like a shy and timid animal. But he passes it off as nothing for the moment, content to enjoy the other more prominent colors of happiness, pride and dark blue calm.

They stay like that for what seems like hours, allowing themselves to be blissfully unaware of the outside world, at least for now.


	4. Found out

Ellie giggles, causing Danny to pause in his story, "what?" He asks with a smile.

Ellie shakes her head and gives Danny a grin of her own, "it's just sweet that Dan decided to comfort Daniel like that."

Danny's eyes twinkle and he lets out a fond sigh, "yeah, he was," the smile drops, "it's just too bad that those moments couldn't last just a little longer..."

"What happened?"

Danny sighs, this time appearing as if a great weight had settled on his shoulders as he continues.

 **•*0o｡..*･:..:･:..｡o0*•**

After that moment in their room, Angelite and Adventurine had grown closer to each other and were finally able to talk pleasantly with each other. They can't act much different in public, but Adventurine is a lot more inclined to speak up if someone insults his charge. His actions raise a few eyebrows, but most shrug it off as part of his assignment since Adventurine makes no bones about his orders to guard _his_ Angelite.

When they are in private however, they act more fond of each other. Adventurine would never initiate anything unless asked, but he had became much more relaxed with giving the chilled Angelite hugs; though just being near him seems to help as well. Blue Diamond notices of course, but he never comments on it, giving the two gems a secret smile.

That all changes one day however.

It seems to be an ordinary day, Angelite and Adventurine are in Blue Diamond's audience room, when a pink pearl enters and bows low as blue pearl introduces her. Blue Diamond purses his lips before asking the pearl what Red Diamond needs from him.

"Red Diamond requires that Adventurine come with her to earth, she wishes for extra protection against the rebellion," the pink pearl says.

Blue Diamond sighs, "I will allow it, only if Angelite is allowed to accompany him."

"Your Radiance?" Angelite inquires. Blue Diamond gives him a kind smile.

"I believe that you need to see more than just my audience room and the Diamond palace young one...and earth is a very beautiful place after all, I'm sure you would enjoy it."

Angelite says nothing to that, simply frowning as the pink pearl bows again.

"As you wish, my Diamond."

The pearl leaves and Adventurine chooses that moment to speak, "forgive me, but why do you wish Angelite to come with me? He is not a warrior; Red Diamond does not need him."

"He will be needed, young quartz, of that I can assure you," Blue's red eyes sadden, "make sure you keep each other safe; we will see each other again sometime after."

Confused on Blue Diamond's strange behavior, all the two gems can do is nod. With that, they begin their journey to earth, unaware that their lives would change forever.

The next day finds the two gems boarding a ship shaped like a massive red arm, Adventurine marching along with the other quartz soldiers and Angelite staying at his side, unsure of where to go. The line of quartz, plus Angelite, march up to Red Diamond and salute her.

Red Diamond surveys the soldiers before her eyes lock onto Adventurine and she gives him a cool smile, "ah, I see you weren't too busy to attend me and my visit," her eyes flick to Angelite, who is standing behind and off to the side of Adventurine while trying to make himself as small and insubstantial as possible. She frowns at this, "Blue actually allowed his precious music box to leave his side?"

"Blue Diamond thought that it would be good for him to see the earth your excellence," Adventurine explains, never dropping his salute, "he has personally ordered me to protect the Angelite while I am here."

"Ah," Red Diamond says, scratching her chin, "well, I'm sure I could find him useful for something..."

Red Diamond grins again, "alright then!" She claps her hands together, "until we reach earth, you are all permitted to relax! Just to make sure you're more adequate than you already are of course," her smile becomes devilish, "I'll be studying your actions after all..."

All the gems shudder at the ominous words, the toe head and ravenet especially, "okay! Carry on!" Red Diamond chirps, spinning around and walking away. The quartz soldiers relax and wander off to do their own thing, leaving Angelite and Adventurine alone.

"I don't like her," Angelite whispers.

Adventurine snorts, grinning slightly as he says, "nobody really likes her except Black Diamond, so it's understandable."

"Well I definitely don't," Angelite replies, glancing in the direction of the monarch, "she radiates depression and cruelty; like a malicious shadow that hangs over your head."

Adventurine frowns, remembering Angelite telling him about his seer ability, "Blue Diamond had warned us to avoid her; but that's just not possible here. Let's just..." he sighs, "this trip shouldn't take too long, do you think you can...tolerate her? At least for now?"

Nervous blue eyes meet steady green and Angelite finds himself nodding, "I-I'll try, Adventurine. Maybe if I don't go a-a-around her too much she won't affect me as bad."

"That's the spirit," Adventurine smiles, "it'll get easier Angelite, just don't lose your head."

Angelite nods, stepping closer and opening his arms, "I-I'm cold, could you...?"

Without hesitation, Adventurine pulls the smaller gem into a hug, feeling the other stop shaking and relax. He sighs and says almost bitterly, "hard to believe she's the mother of the quartz's huh?"

Angelite chuckles, tightening his arms around the green gem, "yeah, especially when it comes to you."

They pull away from each other and Adventurine pulls on the blue gem's hand, "come, let's try to find a place to relax."

The two gems start walking, heading further into the ship and unaware of someone who had watched them closely the entire time.

"Hmm..."

 **•*0o｡..*･:..:･:..｡o0*•**

A few days pass with nothing of importance happening. Angelite and Adventurine chatted with the other soldiers on occasion, the amethysts being Adventurine's favorites with their laid back personalities and the Blue quarts' being Angelite's because of their calm and serene disposition despite their size and muscle. They don't have as much privacy as they use to, so they have to act like a soldier and his charge more often, but they manage the best they can.

Angelite and Adventurine are now standing out in a hallway and look out a window of the ship, watching a big blue orb known as planet earth come closer. Angelite breaths a sound of awe at the world, "wow."

Adventurine moves his head in agreement, "not hard to believe that there's life on this planet huh?"

"Really," Angelite responds, captivated with the image, "can't wait to see it."

Pink Pearl walks up to them and clears her throat to get their attention, "Red Diamond wishes to see Angelite," she looks at Adventurine, "in private," she adds.

Angelite tenses while Adventurine narrows his eyes, getting a bad feeling, "I'll go with him and wait by the door," he says.

Pink studies him for a moment before nodding slightly, "as you wish."

They walk through the ship before coming up to a large pair of doors. The doors slide open with a hiss and Pink Pearl walks in with Angelite cautiously following behind her. Angelite glances behind him and sees Adventurine give a small reasuring smile before the doors close, cutting the blue gem off from his guard. Angelite looks ahead once more and goes forward, standing behind the Pearl who curtsies to the large chair in front of the window.

"Red Diamond, the Angelite is here."

The chair swivels around and the larger gem smirks, "thank you Pink, that will be all."

Pink Pearl straightens up and goes to stand by the doors, giving them some privacy. Angelite makes himself appear confident in that moment, even as his nerves and cold energy demands that he wrap his arms around himself. He does the Diamond Salute and waits for Red to speak.

Red Diamond puts a hand to her chin, green eyes burning into the blue gem and Angelite gets the feeling that she's trying to read him; strip his gem down to try to find the dirt underneath. The black and browns in her prism field almost seem to try and reach out towards him and Angelite has to use all of his energy to keep his composure and not back away. Finally, Red Diamond hums, standing and walking around Angelite with her hands folded behind her back, eyes never leaving him.

"You know, I find it strange that I've hardly heard anything about you; even with you being my brother's gem in waiting."

"Y-yes Your Radiance, I tend to stay be my Diamond's side more often than not," he answers, secretly proud for not stuttering all the way, "Blue Diamond does not tend to be social."

Red waves him off, "yes, yes, I already know that; what I find strange is that you've been assigned a body guard despite always being near him. An Angelite is just a shiny little music box; a bobble, even with there only being eleven of you there's still the fact that if one of you breaks there's **_still_** ten more to stand around and sparkle."

She pauses in her steps and looks down her nose at him, "so what is it that makes **_you_** such a special one compared to the others? Why would he need one of the best quartz soldiers to protect one gem that is so fragile and disposable to begin with?"

Angelite's eyes widen and his gaze drops to his feet, his courage leaking out from him as quickly as it came, "I-I honestly don't know ma'am."

Red Diamond suddenly grins and Angelite feels the negative lash like a physical force, "it's because you're a defect isn't?"

Angelite's head jerks up and his eyes fill with alarm, "m-m-my Diamond! I assure you that I-"

"Am a defective Angelite," her smile turns cruel at this point, "you can't sing, it's obvious that you're affected by your own ice energy...you are't even capable of seeing the time stream like Blue Diamond or his other gems aren't you?"

She leans down to him, green eyes sharp as daggers, "you're not even a **_real_** angelite, without the ability to sing you're even **_less_** than a pearl; you should have been shattered right after you were created."

Angelite's knees give out beneath him and he collapses. He's been insulted before, but those insults were hinting at the problems he has; these insults hit right for the source, and coming from a diamond...it seems so much more _impactfull_ , because a _ruler_ of the gem species was the one who said them. Crystal water bunches in his blue eyes and falls, the poor gem shaking like a leaf.

Red Diamond pulls back and rubs her chin in thought, "that said...Blue kept you around for a reason, so you must be useful for something…"

Angelite looks down at his slack hands, wishing more than ever that he can just disappear. Red Diamond walks back to her chair and sits down, leaning her head on her curled fingers as she continues to gaze upon the emotionally broken gem.

"Hmm…I don't think I'll have you shattered, no need to upset Blue after all," Angelite looks up at her in astonishment, "that said, it doesn't mean you won't go unpunished in some form or another. Give me time," she smirks once more and Angelite feels a foreboding of doom along with it, "you may go, your tainted presence is no longer welcome in my own."

Red Diamond turns her chair around and Angelite jumps up. He runs to the opening door, not hear Adventurine's calling of his name as he rushes through the many halls of the red ship. He only stops when Adventurine catches up and grabs his wrist.

"Angelite! What happened?! Did she do something to you?!"

"She found out!" Angelite says, choking on a sob. Adventurine inhales sharply and tugs on Angelite's arm, pulling the distraught blue gem to his chest, "she found out! She's gonna do something horrible to me now!"

"I won't let her shatter you Angelite."

"She i-isn't going to shatter m-me," Angelite sobs, "she's going to find a use for me even if I don't fit in the mold; I don't know what she plans to do with me, but I know it'll be so much worse than sh-sh-shattering me!"

Adventurine purses his lips, running his hand up and down shaking shoulders, "I swore I would protect you, no matter what it might be. I **_will_** protect you."

Angelite pulls away and looks into Adventurine's dark green eyes, so close that if he was't upset at the moment, he would notice the lighter green ring in the middle of his irises, "she's a diamond Venny, you can't do anything to stop her," he says, unaware of the nickname he used in his pain. Adventurine notices however, and a warm feeling spreads through his chest as he gives Angelite a firm smile along with gentle eyes.

"I care for you too much not to try. I promise, even if it may not mean much in the end...I'll do everything in my power to keep you safe."

Angelite gasps and a new kind of warmth fills him, one much sweeter than the other times. He burries his face in Adventurine's shoulder, "thank you," he whispers.

Adventurine sighs, hugging the other as close as he can to him,"I will **_always_** keep you safe...my Angelite..."

A new kind of warm feeling floods through them, seeming to spread from their gems and outward. They feel the urge to get closer, closer than they already are and their arms squeeze each other almost to the point of discomfort. Their vision gets engulfed in a white light and something strange and new is created.…

 **•*0o｡..*･:..:･:..｡o0•**

 **A/N No, Pink Pearl isn't the same Pearl from the show. This is a drastic au story that was written before A Single Pale Rose, so it's not going to go the same direction.**

 **Leaving this off on a cliff hanger, but trust me, things start going to heck in the next couple of chapters before it all settles down for a bit. I hope I'm not going too fast with this, but Danny is trying to tell the story at night, so he would have to leave some things out or else it would drag on for weeks. Just assume he tells her little bits of inbetween to her at different point some other time okay? :)**

 **I hope you all have a great week and I'll see you in the next Chapter!**

 **~Sorceress**


	5. First times are always the worst

**Warning: Pseudo violence in this chapter. It's quick, but I just wanted to give a heads up. Also cliff hanger. *grins wryly***

When the bright light fades, there standing in its place is not a blue and green gem, but one single gem with the colors mixed to make his skin color into a deep, greenish tone. His clothes are a strange mix of a soldiers uniform and a loose blouse, with random splashes of color as if the creator couldn't decide which ones to use and just decided to go crazy with it, black and white being the most prominent with different shades of blue and green here and there. His hair just brushes his neck, multiple streaks of snow white and pitch black running through it while bangs fall over two pairs of eyes, the top pair Heterochromic eyes and the bottom pair blue-green. Those same pairs of eyes widen as they look down at their hands.

"Wha…what is this…?" the gem mutters, eyes focusing on the multicolored gems on his front; a water drop shaped one above a smooth round one, right where Angelite's and Adventurine's gems are respectfully located, "what…am I?"

Gasps draw his attention away from himself and he looks up to see over a dozen quartz soldiers surroundings him, all with expressions ranging from shock, amazement and down right disgust.

"What happened?" An amethyst asks in bewilderment.

"Is that a fusion?" A Jasper wonders.

"What a disgrace! And they aren't even the same gems! They're from different courts and rankings!" An agate exclaims, curling his nose.

Heavy footsteps approach and the new gem whips around and looks up into the eyes of Red Diamond herself, looking back down at them with apathy. Another flash of light and the gem falls apart, revealing his components.

"Angelite and Adventurine," she says, "I must say that I'm surprised; a quartz soldier willingly fusing not only with a gem not of his own kind or court, but a defective one at that."

More gasps as new questions and sounds of disgust ring out from the surrounding gems like the buzzing of a disturbed hornets nest. Angelite cowards down while his companion jumps up and stands upfront of him. His gem glows and he reaches up to grab a broad sword, swinging it down and holding it threateningly as he shifts into a defensive position.

"I won't let you harm him," Adventurine snarls.

Red Diamond scoffs, "you really are a gem worthy of your stereo type, willing to destroy yourself for the sake of your mission," she grins, "however, I'm afraid you're not worthy of your position anymore; you've allowed yourself to be tainted, therefore you have failed in your mission and have become defective as well."

Adventurine narrows his eyes, "you-" he feels something jab him in his back and duel screams of pain ring out as their forms break and crumble, poofing them and returning their consciences to their gemstone states. The Agate and Jasper that poofed them picks up the two gemstones and holds them in one hand, a red gem destabilizer in the other.

"What shall we do with the traitors my Diamond?" The Agate inquires. Red Diamond turns her back to them.

"Throw the Adventurine into a holding cell so he doesn't cause trouble; the defective…" she thinks before an evil smirk appears on her face, "put it in one of the cannons, perhaps Blue Diamond has sent me a blessing, keeping this Angelite intact…"

 **•*0o｡..*･:..:･:..｡o0*•**

Ellie gasps and covers her mouth, "they got poofed and separated?!"

Danny laughs, though it doesn't have the same carefree jovialness as it normally does, "there are worse issues going on in the story, yet **_that's_** the thing you focus on?"

"Of course it is!" The girl protests, crossing her arms, "you got poofed just because you were a fusion! That's an awful reason to do that."

Danny shakes his head, "at least we seemed to raise you right on that front. Anyway, Adventurine reformed a few hours later, finding himself in a cell with a destabilizer field..."

 **•*0o｡..*･:..:･:..｡o0*•**

Adventurine paces back and forth in his cell, hands held behind his back and brows knit at the new predicament he is in. He is mentally berating himself as well, here he said not even a full hour ago that he would protect Angelite and he failed. This isn't even about his pride as a bodyguard anymore, he is worried sick that Red Diamond might be doing something terrible to _his_ Angelite and he won't stand for it.

Adventurine pauses mid stride, surprised at his train of thought, though he can't deny the claim feels right. Angelite is _his_ and nobody is going to harm what is _his_. The problem however is that he can't properly locate the missing gem; the barrier not only prevents his escape, but also screws up the connection the two made when Blue Diamond assigned him as Angelite's protector. Unless Blue Diamond 'fires' him the connection will always be there until one or the other is shattered, but at the moment he can't tell where Angelite is at; only that he isn't nearby or at the very least hasn't reformed yet, and that's only because Adventurine can't hear him.

Adventurine grips his hair and groans, nerves frazzled and mind racing from all the possibilities of what could happen to Angelite with him not being there next to him. He then takes a deep breath before he loses it completely and drops his hands after a few seconds, letting his arms hang at his sides. No, he has to remain calm, he isn't reckless like his brothers and sisters...at least not to the same extent anyway, and he won't benefit either of them by proverbially slamming his head against the wall with all the what ifs. His mind becomes less frantic and he feels himself relax, letting out another sigh before picking up the sound of approaching footsteps on the metal floor outside his cell.

He looks over his shoulder and is surprised to see Pink Pearl, standing by the force field and face unreadable. Adventurine narrows his eyes and turns fully towards her, feeling aggravation rise up.

"What? Does Red Diamond need me for something?" He says testily.

Pink shakes her head, "no, I am not here on her behalf this time."

Adventurine raises a brow, "then what are-" both eyebrows shoot up as the force field is disabled, Pink Pearl standing infront of the opening calmly with her hands held in front of her.

"I could be shattered for doing this, but I refuse to see Red Diamond mistreat Blue and Yellow Diamond's gems this way," she explains, "find Angelite and get to the escape pods, you need to hurry before it's too late."

Adventurine steps out of the cell and the link between Angelite and himself becomes clearer, leading him to his left, "thank you," he says quickly before taking off down the hall, leaving Pink Pearl standing alone.

Adventurine goes down many twists and turns, not knowing exactly where he's going but aware that he had to get there soon. He runs into a group of guards, two being the Jasper and Agate that had poofed them earlier, and hides behind a corner, quietly drawing his sword.

"So I says to the guy, 'listen, there's no way I'm gonna shatter that new gem when he clearly doesn't know what the heck is going on!' He had just sprung up not two hours ago, he was still trying to get his bearings as a soldier! Why the heck am I supposed t-"

Adventurine jumps out of hiding and cuts the Amethyst down before she even knows what happened. The Blue Quartz reaches for his weapon but Adventurine poofs him before he can barely draw it, his gem dropping to the metal floor. Agate pulls out a small double headed battle axe and the Jasper pulls out a gem destabilizer, simultaneously swinging at the lithe green gem, but Adventurine back flips out of the way. Eyes narrowed and jaw locked, Adventurine swings his broad sword up and cuts the agate in half, poofing him and whirls around to parry the Jasper before he cuts her head off, poofing her as well. He stomps on their gems, shattering them while leaving the amethyst and blue quartz alone since they weren't directly involved, before continuing down the corridor at a brisk pace, turning right at a new hallway.


	6. Gem Harvest and Escape

Adventurine repeats this pattern of poofing any gem soldiers he comes across, this time leaving all their gemstones intact.

The trail he follows finally leads him to a door before a sudden rock of the ship almost sends him off his feet. A dull wailing sound reaches his ears from the other side of the door and causes him to instinctively cover his ears, his gem trembling from the pitch. He is unable to move from the spot, feet seeming to be melded to the ground until the wail stops. Uncovering his ears, Adventurine grits his teeth and slashes his sword against the door, destroying it. He runs in and gasps in outright horror at what he sees.

There are four consoles in the room, possibly leading to the finger cannons of the ship, with four peridots controlling them. One console has a four faceted water drop shaped gem plugged into it, glowing a blueish-white with energy. The peridots turn towards him and gasp in alarm while Adventurine locks his jaw and tightens his hold on the hilt of his sword.

"You...are harvesting his gem?" He says very softly through gritted teeth, eyes blazing in rage. The peridot controlling the console whips her head around to look at said gem, paling to a sickly green as she realizes the reason for his anger.

"I-It was Red Diamond's orders! We-"

"You're **_haRVESTING HIM_**??!!" Adventurine screams, seeing red as he charges forward and stabs his blade into the peridot's gem, destroying it along with her physical form. Another peridot runs to a communication device and begins pushing buttons haphazardly in her fright, the screen staticing until another gem's face appears on it.

"Code red! We have a renegade Adventurine in the weapons room! Please send-" Adventurine destroys her, smashing the screen in the meantime and rendering the communications useless.

He runs over and grabs Angelite's gem, grunting as he has to use force to pull it out. The gemstone cracks as he frees it from the ship, a wide hairline fracture in the middle of it and Adventurine winces. He holds the gemstone carefully as he runs out of the room and makes his way towards the escape pods, this time avoiding others so as not to harm Angelite's gem further in any way.

The lights begin blaring when he gets halfway to the pods and Adventurine picks up his pace, speeding through the halls before realizing the other soldiers haven't even noticed him. He finally becomes aware of a cold tingling sensation in his hand and looks down at the blue gem, seeing the same blueish white energy from before. His body and the gem are visible to him, but judging by the obliviousness of the others it was some kind of cloaking power. Not taking it for granted, Adventurine goes even faster, sprinting down the hall.

They finally get to the room with the escape pods to find one open and the hanger empty. Adventurine silently thanks Pink Pearl again and jumps into the pod, sealing the door behind him. The controls for the pod are already set to go off when the door closes and the pod detaches from hanger, allowing earth's gravity to do the rest.

Phantom clutches the gem to his chest, trying to keep the pressure from making the crack any bigger. The crash landing jostles him and the pod shakes him as it tears into the ground. When it finally comes to a stop, Adventurine looks at Angelite's gem and sighs in relief when the crack doesn't appear any larger.

The door opens with a hiss and bright light blinds the the albino for a moment, causing him to shield his eyes. When his vision adjusts, he carefully steps out of the pod and gawks around at the place where they have landed.

Green everywhere, that's the first thing he sees. Green trees of different species, green grass, a couple of grey boulders of various sizes all encompassed by a deep blue sky. A few small and furry creatures scamper by into the brush and Adventurine feels his breath leave him at the sheer life and vitality around him. He walks into the forest, keeping Angelite's gem close to his chest, and inhales the air that seems to be buzzing with energy itself.

"Marvelous," he says in a hushed tone, as if he doesn't want to disturb the peace and tranquility of the atmosphere, "just...this is earth? That blue marble?" Never has Adventurine thought that a planet that looks so solid in color from afar would have so many colors. Home World itself was simply a dull lifeless grey color, the planet's kindergartens where most of the gems are created being so massive that even from a space ship the canyons looked like wide, deep wounds, the planet only able to support the gem population with the planets nutrients being scowered so new gems could be created.

This planet, or at least this sector of it anyway, hasn't gone through that treatment yet, and Adventurine finds himself hoping that it never does. It would be horrible for all the this life to fade away and become a husk of its former self.

He comes up to a little waterfall, pouring down into a large pond. There are plants here as well, along with animals that Adventurine has never seen before. He sits down and looks at himself in the waters edge, and the full repercussions of what he had done come flooding back along with the small but undeniable waves. He had betrayed Home World, he had _shattered_ gems who were only doing their jobs. All because of something that Adventurine and Angelite did that had caught even _them_ off guard with how quickly it happened.

But, even when he should feel horrified of what he had done, he had done it to get Angelite away from that _witch_ of a diamond, and that was something that he is incapable of regretting. He finds that even if they go back in time, he would do the exact same thing all over again if it means keeping the other safe.

He looks down at Angelite's gem and winces, his finger moving gently over the jagged edges of the crack. He wishes that he is able to heal it like the Rose Quartz or Mystic Topaz's can, but he is an Adventurine; meant to defend his target from something like this from happening in the first place, not fixing it when he fails. And oh did he fail terribly at that.

Adventurine sighs, staring at the small glimmer on the blue gem caused by the sun, "I am sorry, I wish I could've done something more...but that's in the past now." He closes his eyes and softly kisses the gem, right over the crack. The gem trembles in his hand and Adventurine opens his eyes in surprise, watching mutely as the gem lights up once more. He opens his hand and the gem floats up into the air, light spreading out to form the shape of a blank doll before details get added to it: hair, clothes and facial structure. Great wings spring from his back as Angelite fully reforms, looking soft and pure as fresh fallen snow and making the ravenet look like a true angel with his flowing white shirt and peaceful expression.

Adventurine's jaw drops in awe at the image, before he cringes as Angelite screams in pain, his form glitching and the wings falling apart as he falls into the shallow water in a heap.

"Angelite!" The green gem runs forward and pulls him out, paying no mind to a section of the water freezing over as he pulls him up to dry land. He turns Angelite on his back and Angelite puts a hand up to cover his gem, his face contorted into a grimace of pain.

"Angelite, are you coherent?"

"Adventurine...?" Angelite opens his eyes and Adventurine gasps when his face is reflected back at him through twin mirrors. Adventurine bites his lip as he cups the other's face, guilt tearing through him as if he had just ran himself through with his own sword.

"Your eyes...An-Angelite I'm so sorry, they had put you into a machine and I-I was so desperate to-"

"They did WHAT?!" Angelite lunges up out of Adventurine's hold and goes to look at himself in the ice, his brow furrowing at the sight of the large crack, "they...they harvested my gem...?"

Adventurine's eyes look at the refection, grimacing at the horrified look on Angelite's face, "I was panicking and I ended up cracking your gem trying to get it out of the machine...I'm sorry, I broke my promise," he says, ashamed.

"Broke your promise?" Angelite turns to gaze at the toe head, "you got me away from Red Diamond and her followers; it could be a lot worse."

"How could it be worse?!" Adventurine exclaims, gripping his hair, "your gem is cracked!"

Angelite winces before his expression hardens, "they could have shattered you, and I'd be alone." he says deliberately.

Adventurine becomes immobile, stunned at Angelite's words. Angelite has his head turned slightly off to the side and Adventurine knows the other well enough by now that he can picture the normal ice blue of the other's eyes off to the side and away from him.

"That...would really be so horrible to you?" he asks gently.

Angelite nods, "Yes."

Adventurine sighs, crawling on his knees and pulling Angelite to his chest, resting his head on top of the ravenet's own. Angelite reaches up and holds his arms in place, breathing out tiredly, "I'm not mad at you because of my gem. Things...just played out this way, it's not our fault."

Adventurine nods, "yeah, I just wish I could fix you; you must be in so much pain right now."

Angelite closes his eyes, the pain is still there yes, but it is muted at the moment from the green gems embrace. No, he could never be angry at the other for doing what he had to to get them away from her.

"...It'll heal in time..."


	7. Discussing fusion, meeting a celebrity

After they pull apart, the two gems notice drops of water falling on them and the temperature drop. Seeing Angelite begin to shiver, frost forming around his feet in the meantime, Adventurine sighs and breaks the blue gem out of the ice, getting him up in a bridal hold.

"I need to find us some shelter," Adventurine says, looking around before taking off further into the forest.

By the time the rain is pouring in sheets, Adventurine has since managed to find a small cave and build a fire. Adventurine sits at the opening, looking out onto the dreary scenery, while Angelite sits by the fire to warm himself up. Angelite enjoys it, but he can't help comparing it to Adventurine's warmth when they hug. This heat warms him only on whatever part is close to it, and it hurts when you touch it or get too close. Adventurine warmed him all over, and he can touch him without getting burned.

'Yeah,' he thinks, 'I like his hugs better, but this is thoughtful of him.'

Angelite gazes over at the silent green gem, even now he is trying to take care and protect him. But he has been keeping his distance from the other, his mind preoccupied with something that he just doesn't feel like sharing right now. His own mind drifts back to before the whole debacle, when they...didn't that Jasper call them a fusion? Was that what fusion was? Angelite frowns at the idea. It's not that he doesn't know what fusion is, but he didn't know that it happened...like that. He thought there was a lot more organization to it, not a spur of the moment thing that catches you off guard and makes people hate you after it happens.

 _The sensation of being taller. The flash of an arm that was a slightly different color than his or Adventurine's own. The feeling of actually loving **himself** , of feeling that he was perfect just the way he was and that other people's opinions didn't matter._

"So..." Angelite looks away, suddenly feeling extreme awkwardness. Adventurine's eyes flick away from the rain and focus on him, raising a brow at Angelite's strange behavior.

"'So'...?"

Angelite rubs the back of his neck, "that-that thing we did...you know? Before everything blew up...," he shakes his head, his face turning a darker shade of blue, "I...I didn't know it was like that...that you become a whole different person..."

Adventurine's eyes bug out of his head once he realizes what direction Angelite was going with the conversation. He feels his face heat up as he looks away, biting his lip as he tries to think of how to respond.

"I-I don't think it's normally like that, I mean I only did it once before with another adventurine, but with that it was still me, just...bigger..."

"Really? I didn't know you..." Angelite trails off, feeling inadequate for some reason.

"But," Adventurine continues, "it was...very different this time, I..." he shakes his head slightly, "I don't know how to explain it; it-"

"Just was," Angelite finishes for him. He looks over at the fire, "it was nice..."

"Yeah," Adventurine agrees before looking out into the forest again. He sighs and decides a change of topic might be wise, "you're considered a defect, I'm considered tainted, and we're both traitors to Home World; I'm not sure what to do now, unfortunately."

"We're a little out of our element aren't we?" Angelite chuckles, "I'm sure we'll be fine though, I mean...it's a whole new world right? I wouldn't mind seeing it."

As if on cue, the rain stops and the temperature outside of the cave warms to something more manageable. Adventurine smiles and stands up, holding his hand out to the blue gem.

"Well, I'm sure there's plenty of things to see wouldn't you say?" He says, grin turning rogish with a gleam in his eye. Angelite laughs and takes the offered hand, Adventurine pulling him to his feet as they walk hand in hand out of the cave to explore their brand new home.

For days on end they discovered new things about their environment, though Angelite became tired easily because of his gemstone's state. It didn't crack any further, but they both knew it wasn't going to heal without help. It seems that they were the only ones for miles however, and they don't know how to program the escape pod they used to get here, so Angelite becomes reserved to the fact he would have to be careful of what he does.

They weren't alone for long however.

The boys are laying out on a hill, watching the stars when they get a couple of impromptu visitors, a thin purple woman who leans into their line of vision and, "Hey! What are you guys doing here?"

Angelite yelps and Adventurine pulls him away and behind him, leaning back with his hand at his gem in defense.

"If you're here from Red Diamond then let me tell you, we aren't going back and I will shatter before I let you hurt my charge!"

The woman blinks at his vehemence before a smirk comes on her face. She snorts, causing Adventurine to grit his teeth and make his gem glow. Does she think he's joking or something?

She turns around and calls over her shoulder, "Hey Andrew! I found a couple of normies; apparently they think we're with Red Diamond!"

"Really?" A taller man comes out of the brush, long black hair pulled into a pony tail and green eyes glowing in amusement. He has a purplish-grey skin tone and is wearing a black shirt with grey pants, a star cut out of the shirt to let the round, multi faceted purplish black gem on his stomach breath, and wearing a purple trench coat and long grey scarf around his neck. The gem smiles to show sharp white teeth as he says,

"I assure you, we are not part of the Diamond Authority; in fact, the diamonds have a bit of a tiff with us as well."

Adventurine becomes confused, the facts not adding up in his mind yet. Angelite however, "woah!"

He pushes Adventurine out of the way and gapes up at the man, "I've heard about you! You're the Mystic Topaz; leader of the rebellion!"

"Yes, well here I prefer to go by the name of Andrew Riter," Andrew introduces with a grin before he notices Angelite's eyes and gem, "dear boy, your gem has been fractured!"

Adventurine flinches and bites his lip, unsure of what to say. He doesn't have to however as Angelite puts a hand on his shoulder, "it got cracked while we were trying to escape, I..."

Angelite looks away from them, "I was being harvested."

The two others gasp and their eyes become pitying. Adventurine doesn't like the looks however and snaps testily, "we don't need pity! We need his gem fixed so we don't have to worry about when he's going to break!"

Andrew and the purple-black woman look at each other, a silent conversation going between the two before Andrew looks back at them and motions the boys to follow.

"I don't have my mediums at the moment. If you're willing to follow us to our base however, I will heal him."

Angelite looks back at the green gem, Adventurine still having not moved from his place, "Venny?"

Adventurine tenses at the nickname before he lets out a sigh, standing to his feet and helping Angelite up, "I'll be watching," he warns.

Andrew nods, "of course."

And thus, they went to a new place. A place that they would soon find to be their new home.


	8. New Home and Second Time

Angelite and Adventurine follow Andrew and the tanzanite, who had introduced herself as Sam, to a large crystal warp pad and teleport to a beach, a large cliff hanging over it. Having never been to a beach before, Angelite and Adventurine gape out at the large body of water before hearing a chuckle come from Andrew.

"I know, I had the same reaction when I first came here a couple hundred years ago," he says before the grin drops and his eyes dim, his prism field becoming a darker blue in Angelite's eyes, "there were more of us, but a few days ago Red Diamond came and fired a strange white beam at us with a wail. I was only capable of protecting Sam and myself when the wail struck. The others however..."

Angelite flinches, thinking that he was the one who caused them to lose their friends. Adventurine puts a hand on his shoulder, trying to convey that it wasn't his fault, but Angelite doesn't appear to get the message. Andrew goes to the cliff and a metal door with two gems in it is seen, the round black gem at the top of the star lighting up a purplish-green and opening the door to what looks like a library. Andrew beckons them in and heads straight for a desk, picking up a quill and some parchment, "Angelite, please stand in front of the desk if you please," he says.

Angelite does as he is told and shifts nervously in his place, wondering what the other gem is trying to do. Andrew holds the quill in one hand and the point lights up, holding the parchment in the other. He gently puts the quill to paper and begins moving his hand as if writing on it.

 _"A dear Angelite with such misfortune, comes to the Ghostwriter for reinforcement,"_ Andrew recites, _"with his gem cracked, it seemed, his life had no means, but the Ghostwriter would beg to differ you see._

 _"With a flick of my quill, I assure you, you will, find that your life is worth more. When you look at your state, you'll find that your fate, has been reversed once more. Crack fixed, eyes clear, you'll see the would anew, as if all that had happened had been for naught. Your gemstone, you'll find, is clear and refined, broken gem fixed good as new."_

Purple green light shines brighter from the quill. There was no ink manifesting, but that doesn't mean that something isn't happening. Angelite can see Andrew's aura flare, purple and green becoming more prominent and overshadowing the blue of sadness. The light from the quill shoots off the paper and to Angelite's gem on his chest, white power flaring and healing the crack as if time has reversed. The light fades and Angelite looks down to see that Andrew held up in his narration; his gem shining as if no harm had ever come to it.

He blinks and his eyes return to his original ice blue before they close with a big grin, the white wings forming on his back with a great whoosh as he takes off in the air laughing. Adventurine smiles as he watches the other fly gracefully through the air, preforming flips and twirls. He looks over at Andrew and gives the man a nod, "thank you, you have no idea how much this means to us."

Andrew puts his tools away and smiles, "no thanks are needed, I can't in good conscience allow a gem to remain damaged as he was."

Angelite flies down and pulls Andrew into a hug, lifting him up in the air and twirling as he laughed. Andrew is startled at first, not expecting the contact, but smiles as Angelite's laugh rings like merry bells.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Adventurine narrows his eyes at the display, some new emotion twisting in his gut. Then Angelite puts Andrew down and flies over to the cross green gem, smiling mischievously as he picks Adventurine up and begins spinning with him.

"Woah!" the albino yelps as he feels himself picked up off the ground, not liking the feeling. He goes to tell Angelite to put him down when his breath catches in his throat as he looks up.

Angelite's eyes are sparkling, grin wide and Adventurine feels a dream like feeling sweep through him as he watches the ravenet. His arms reach up and wrap around Angelite's shoulders without his awareness and his eyes become half lidded as let's himself be pulled around. 'He's so beautiful...'

Angelite notices the look on Adventurine's face and his laugh tapers off, his own eyes becoming half lidded. He unconsciously brings Adventurine closer to himself and they go from an energetic swinging around to a gentle twirling.

'My Adventurine...my brave protector...mine...'

Their gems glow and a bright light engulfs them, fusing them into one being. The fusion returns, disoriented and without wings to hold him up falls to the ground with a yelp.

"Ow...well that felt great," he says, sitting up from his sprawl and rubbing his head. Twin gasps draw his attention and the fusion takes notice of the two others that were still in the room. Four eyes widen and the fusion crawls back away from them, panic on his face.

"We- I mean I-" he looks around the room, confused. The only thing he knows is the last time he came into being it didn't go so well, "don't hurt- him? Me?? Us???"

Andrew gets over his shock and his eyes light up, "why on earth would we hurt you? You are a fascinating being!" he says, laughing. He walks up to the dazed fusion, "mind telling us your name?"

The fusion knits his brows, fear forgotten for the moment, "I...I don't know, I think it's..." a word brushes his conscienceness and he latches onto it, "Apatite? My name's Apatite," he says with more certainty.

"Apatite," Andrew repeats, as if testing it. He leans down with his hands on his knees, still smiling, "mind telling us how you feel right now?"

Apatite's eyes fall to the ground, trying to sort out his emotions, "I feel...confused...but happy," a wave of calm washes over him and he smiles, "I also feel...secure. Like I couldn't care less what people think as long as I'm myself."

The smile drops and he looks confused again, "why do I feel that way? Angelite and Adventurine have never felt that way before..." yet even now, if he concentrates, he can feel the two consciousness' of said gems. He gets the impression of them embracing each other, anxieties and care melting away to contentment, and Apatite feels happy for them. As long as they were together, as long as _he_ existed, they can protect each other and never have to worry about what anybody thought, because they are together and can just _be_.

Andrew chuckles at the expression on Apatite's face, "it seems that you have answered your own question; but now I have one I'd like to ask you, dear fusion."

Apatite focuses on Andrew again and blinks when he sees the offered hand.

"How would you like to join the Crystal Gems?" Andrew asks gently.

Apatite stares at the Topaz's hand for a bit, undecided, "what would that intail exactly?"

Andrew chuckles demurely, "of course! You must have heard stories about us...well let me tell you now that any stories Home World told you about us are untrue," he hums, "we are here on earth to protect it from Home World; protect the life here. Home World has a way of making Gems and such, but the kindergartens they create leech the nutrients out if the earth and destroy everything just for one, sole gem."

Andrew grins sharply, "we give ourselves earth names as a way to sever ourselves from out pasts, no matter how mundane or heinous they might be; though some gems choose to use their original name. We fight for peace here. So,"

Andrew waves his hand a bit, "what do you say?"

Apatite mulls over what Andrew said before smiling, grabbing Andrew's hand and getting pulled to his feet.

"Okay!"

 **•*o..*･:..:･:..o*•**

Ellie bounces in place, eyes sparkling with a big grin on her face, "so that's how you joined? That's so cool!"

"Yep!" Danny responds, a bit more mellow but no less excited, "I changed my name and started helping out, but..." his smile becomes a touch more plastic, "that, didn't mean all of Dan and Daniel's issues went away. Becoming myself and changing our name isn't enough to erase the past sometimes, and they were trying to avoid it rather than accept it, Daniel especially."

Ellie settles down, "what happened?" she asks, tilting her head and getting a troubled expression. Danny glances away.

"Well..."

 **•*o..*･:..:･:..o*•**

 **Another Cliffhanger, I know, I'm evil. I didn't want the chapter to be long though and this seemed like a good place to leave it off, so, *shrugs* I'm ready for the bricks and tomatoes.** ***hides Katana behind my back and smiles sweetly* Hope you all have a great rest of your week, and I'll see you guys next weekend! *waves***

 **~Sorceress**


	9. Corruption and Blame

**Obviously this story's not over yet, there's always going to be issues. Let's get this show on the road shall we?**

 **Warning: Nothing major, poofing of a minor character though if that upsets you, but you probably wouldn't be here if that bothered you.**

It takes some time for Apatite, now named Danny, to settle in but he does it quite well; that's what Andrew had said anyway, and before he knows it he gets replicas of Angelite and Adventurine's gems placed in the star on the door so that he has his own room, and begins helping Andrew and Sam out on missions when he is able to get his bearings. He still doesn't know what his weapon or powers are yet, but he isn't necessarily in a hurry at the moment to figure it out. Andrew told him when the time is right he'll be able to summon it, but there is no need for it at that moment; Home World seems to not be interested in them after Danny's components came to earth.

So for now, Danny is simply getting to know the other gems, and getting to know himself in other ways. Everything is a new experience and Danny wants to know everything he can about the Crystal Gems and earth in general. Once he is able to figure out the warp pads by himself and not lose his balance over his new height, he goes everywhere the teleporters can take him and explores. One day however, he discovers something unpleasant.

On one of his solo trips, Danny comes across a strange island: waterfalls rising in the opposite direction of gravity, fish with weird faces on them, and an abundance of crystals and rocks shapped like masks. As strange as it is, the island has a good vibe to it, and Danny can't help but like it. He lays out by one of the lagoons, relaxing and enjoying the sounds and smells, when he senses something coming at him. Two of his eyes crack open and he flips out of the way before the thing can crush him, spinning around to face the threat before he freezes.

He has no idea what this thing is, but he knows it's not an earth creature. The thing is long and willowy, with points for hands and six legs. It looks much like a cross between a worm and wasp, with orange stripes instead of black and no eyes. Danny's eyes widen and he covers his ears as a screeching sound assaults him, a very familiar screeching sound that makes Danny's stomach turn. His thoughts become frazzled and as the thing hisses and takes to the air, the only train of thought he can focus on is this: get rid of it.

The gems on his front glow bright and Danny instinctively reaches up and grabs hold of two hilts, pulling as a sound of metal comes to his ears. Something comes out of his back at the same time and by the time Danny has become aware of what he is doing, he finds himself not holding a broad sword, or even two of them. In his hands are twin Katanas with silver blades, one with a black handle and one with white. Sharp blue wings that looked like they are made of sleek ice float above his shoulder blades and cause him to hover when he gives an experimental flap, muscle memory from Angelite telling him what to do. He hears a buzzing coming from above him and brings his attention back to the creature, narrowing his eyes as he charges up to meet it.

The thing opens a sharp toothed mouth, seeming ready to eat him, but Danny is ready, bringing one of his swords up to the side and cutting the creature all the way through. The thing screeches and Danny covers his ears again with a grimace, watching as the creature...poofs?

...what?

But that's exactly what it does; no blood, no evidence of a body left behind except for an octagonical shaped, multifaceted gem. The gem falls to the ground and Danny follows it, gazing at the gem in surprise. He can tell that it may have been a type of quartz, but the gem is spotted in unnatural blues and greens; almost like mold or algae. Danny picks the gem up and cringes when that screeching starts ringing in his head again, becoming swamped with feelings of pain and wrongness. This gem isn't supposed to be like this.

"What..." Danny shakes his head, "what happened to you...?" he mumbles.

"Danny?"

The fusion looks over to his left to find Sam and Andrew coming out of the jungle, looking as if they had been through a rough battle. Sam runs over and checks Danny over, looking for injury, "Danny are you okay? That corrupted gem almost had us beat down-"

"C-corrupted?" Danny looks horrified as he looks down at the spotted gem, "th-this gem is corrupted?"

Andrew sighs and looks down at the gemstone in sadness, "many of our friends became corrupted after Red Diamond shot that beam at earth. We've been gathering them and trying to find a way to cure them."

Danny becomes very quiet at that. He hands the gemstone over to Sam and stands to his feet, his bangs shadowing his eyes. The others watched him in concern as Sam absently bubbles the gem and taps it to send it back to their Temple.

"Danny?" She says hesitantly, "what's the matter?"

Danny stays silent for a few more moments before he suddenly smiles at them, acting as if nothing had happened.

"Nothing's wrong," he says cheerily before he points over his shoulder, "mind if I hitch a ride with you guys?"

Andrew keeps a troubled expression on his face as he nods, "certainly Danny, of course."

Danny turns around and leads the way, the others following behind. They get back to the Temple and Danny stays on the beach, watching the waves come and go. Andrew puts a hand on his shoulder and smiles sympatheticly.

"Don't worry, I know it's your first time dealing with a corrupted gem, but you handled yourself very well for a first time encounter," Danny still refuses to say anything and Andrew's grin wavers, "we'll help them Danny, don't worry. We're trying our hardest to save them."

Danny begins trembling and Andrew finally catches the tear trail running down the right side of his face. Andrew's brows knit in concern as he tries to look under the other male's bangs, "Danny?"

Danny wraps his arms around himself as if to physically keep himself together. He squeezes his eyes shut and grits his teeth, the tears from his light blue eye running faster, "not...your fault..."

"Danny?!" Andrew becomes alarmed when Danny doesn't seem to hear him, carrying on a conversation with himself under his breath that gets louder by the minute.

"It's not your fault. Yes it is! No, it's not you had no control over what happened- if we had never fused in the first place she would have never used me like that!"

Danny's eyes crack open and in his mind, he can see his two component gems fighting, Adventurine trying to talk Angelite down and the other having none of it. Adventurine grabs Angelite's face and forces him to look him in the eye, "you don't know that," the green gem says firmly, "she could have already planned on using your gemstone that way; she just used our fusion as a means to do it without being apposed."

"We could have gotten out!" Angelite exclaims, "if we had never fused, we could have gotten through the mission and gone back home without hurting anyone!" He clasps the green gems hands to his face and closes his eyes in anguish, "you heard it Adventurine! You felt how much pain that gem was in; all because of me!"

"It's not your fault Angelite!" Adventurine insists, "you could never have known that this would happen to that gem, to any of them!"

" ** _THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT RIGHT!!!"_**

Andrew draws back when Danny yells that, his form lighting up as he unravels. Angelite pushes Adventurine away in the mindscape and Apatite comes apart, the blue and green gems falling to the ground with Angelite still crying on his knees and holding himself and Adventurine falling on his back stunned, not expecting the move.

"And nothing you say will ever change that," Angelite says before he turns invisible and flies away.

"Angelite!" Adventurine calls out, jumping to his feet and preparing to go after him. Andrew holds him back and the green gem whips his head around, baring his teeth at the Mystic Topaz, "let me go!"

Andrew shakes his head, "Adven- Dan-" Andrew shakes his head, "you need to give him some space."

"I need to talk to him!" Adventurine tugs, trying to get away but Andrew's grip is too strong, "it's not his fault! If I leave him alone now he'll just keep thinking it is and then he won't listen-"

"He isn't listening right now is he?!" Adventurine freezes and Andrew sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose with a free hand, "give him time to calm down, then talk to him. The way he is right now you're more likely to push him away than sooth him."

He carefully takes his hand away from the toe head's elbow and rakes his hand through his hair, making it messier than it normally is, "if he is in immediate danger, then go to him. If not, you need to give him space; you need to know when to leave him alone to gather his thoughts."

Adventurine looks down at the ground, the words sinking in and he realizes that Andrew is right.

"I...seem to have forgotten how to do that, after so long," he feels the tug at their connection and his eyes follow in the direction it's coming from, "fine."

Andrew shakes his head, "in the meantime, you need to explain what it is that's not Angelite's fault," he pauses, remembering something, "you're still part of the Crystal Gems, whether you are fused or not. So what name...?"

Adventurine hums, thinking it over, "we're still part of Danny correct?" Andrew nods in agreement, "then...call me Dan, it's shorter and less of a mouthful. I don't know what my charge would want to be called though."

"Just one of you is enough for now," Andrew smiles tiredly, "how about you go to your room and rest for a bit before meeting us in my library? Angelite will return in his own time."

"My room?" the now named Dan tilts his head, "I've never had my own room, or if I did I don't remember what it looks like. I've always been away on missions or with..." he looks in the direction of the pull again.

Andrew nods in understanding, "then now might be a good idea to create your own in case something like this happens again; or, if his gem allows, you can go to Angelite's room."

Dan sighs as he heads towards the door with the five pointed star on it. The green and blue gems on the bottom of the star light up and the door simply disappears, revealing a familiar cloud covered room that he hasn't seen in a long time. Dan smiles softly at the scene, "looks like his gem is willing," he says under his breath, walking into the room and letting the door reappear behind him.


	10. Woes and Turmoil

Angelite finds himself in the rain once more, sitting in a larger and deeper cave than before. He is soaking wet and this time there's not even a fire to keep him warm as he shivers, frost spending along the cave floor and walls. He regrets treating Adventurine in that way, but he just didn't understand; the corruption _is_ his fault, even he doesn't remember the time he was harvested, it was _his_ singing that had put those gems in so much pain, Angelite thinks that even shattering would be more merciful at this point considering, thinking of that one quartz that was forced to listen to his song and lose memory of what it once was.

"I sh-sh-should have b-b-been shattered," Angelite stutters. If he had just been shattered when he was first created on one of Black Diamond's planets, none of this would have happened. He knew at the time that _something_ was wrong with him when he formed, but he was too scared to tell anyone. Blue Diamond had only found out because of his time powers, and Red Diamond had found out because he had gotten too comfortable around Adventurine and slipped up. "I-I-I miss Blue D-D-Diamond..."

But...he misses Adventurine too, he realizes. He misses being Apatite, being _Danny_. He misses that warmth and confidence he had. He is nothing now, just a worthless defect who is a traitor to Home World, his Diamond, and his race. The Crystal gems would poof him or worse once they find out that _he_ is the one that caused the plague of corruption to their friends and comrades, all because he had let his guard down and became something that is considered forbidden; even more so when he isn't supposed to exist in the first place.

He is nothing without Adventurine, and yet...maybe it would be easier on him if he doesn't have to deal with Angelite anymore. He's probably with the Crystal Gems right now, talking about how difficult Angelite can be and how grateful he is not to have to deal with such a whiny and irratic gem anymore. Angelite won't blame him one bit for that.

Yes...it would be best if he just never goes back.

 **•*o｡..*･:..:･:..｡o*•**

Dan sits in a chair in Andrew's room, Andrew and Sam sitting opposite of him with the Tanzanite holding a shocked look and the Topaz with a thoughtful expression. Dan's jaw is locked, shoulders tense as he just got done explaining the reason behind Angelite's freak out and what happened that day when the corruption started. The three are silent as they process Dan's words, trying to come up with what to say. It is Sam that talks first.

"Angelite is a defect? And **_he's_** the reason that our friends became the way they are now?"

Dan glares at the purple gem, "don't you **_dare_** call him that. He gets enough of that from Home World, if he gets it on earth too he'll end up becoming worse."

"But," Sam waves her arms around wildly, "he's the reason that thousands of gems have turned into creatures!"

Dan goes to stand, his gem lighting up as he reaches for his sword, "if you are so vehement on blaming him for something that was out of his control, I will have no qualms about striking you down."

Sam narrows her eyes as she reaches for her own gem weapon, "are you saying that as fact? Or are you just biased because you love him and have been assigned to be his guard?"

"Sam, you go to far!" Andrew cuts in, throwing his hand out to halt a fight, "you must understand Dan, we thought it was the Diamonds themselves that caused it-"

"It was the Diamonds!" Dan snaps, "Red Diamond to be precise! And if I ever see her again, know that I will shatter her myself for using **_my_** Angelite for such a cheap tactic."

"'Cheap?'" Sam snorts, "it may have been a cheap move, but it's done so much! My **_family_** has been turned into monsters because of **_your_** Angelite's voice!"

"Samantha!" Sam flinches at Andrew's hard tone as he gives her a reprimanding glare, "know your place. You have no right to accuse Angelite for something that that **_witch_** did. You know from experience how Red Diamond manipulates others for her underhanded plans."

Sam looks away, thoroughly chastised, so Andrew turns his attention back to the green gem that still seems posed for a fight, "we are not blaming Angelite himself Dan, nor do we plan on doing anything to him. And believe me, if **_any_** of us see Red Diamond again, we will make sure her sadistic ways come to an end. It's just hard to believe that an Angelite was able to cause this much damage; intentional or otherwise."

Dan snorts, finally backing down as a smirk appears, "Angelite is not a weakling, especially not my charge. His voice can shatter a room of gems if he wanted, but he chooses not to."

His eyes soften and become a bit clouded, "he is too gentle to want that, but that gentleness gives him a strength all his own; he seeks not to harm others unless absolutely necessary, even with me he has never said or done anything truly harmful and I tend to bring out that side of him."

Andrew smiles, "I see...you would know about that wouldn't you? Being fused with him more than once and so long."

Dan shakes his head, "it's...that's part of it, but there's so much more," Dan sighs, "we've spent almost every moment together since we met, the only one who would know about him as much as I do, if not **_more_** is Blue Diamond. But he isn't here with us now."

Andrew hums thoughtfully, "yes, I had heard that Blue Diamond tends to know much about the gem species; but he is very cold."

"Only to others not close to him," Dan folds his arms across his chest, "Angelite...he was always with Blue Diamond, no matter what. Blue Diamond was..." his eyes go up and he tilts his head to the side, "I don't know what term to give it, I just know that they were closer than a gem and Diamond would normally be. Even Blue Pearl wasn't as close."

Sam sighs, "wow, makes me wish I had Blue as my Diamond."

Andrew waves his hand, "in the past. I believe now would be a good time to go look for him Dan, he might have calmed by now and," the door opens and the albino whips around at the sound of thunder, "gems may not get sick, but I don't believe it would be good for him to be out in this mess."

Dan turned back to Andrew and narrows his eyes, "you knew it was raining?!"

Andrew shakes his head and stands, "the rain started just a few minutes ago, regardless of what you may think, I cannot predict the future."

Dan growls before running out the door, Andrew and Sam following as he finally is able to follow the connection to where his charge is.

 **•*o｡..*･:..:･:..｡o*•**

Angelite sighs, watching the rain pour harder and cause the plants to droop. The place would be beautiful when it stops, he thinks, but with no light and company the rain makes the world seem dull and dreary. Not that he would complain, it fits his mood at the moment after all, bu-...what's that sound?

Angelite tenses up as he turns and looks into the dark cave he's hiding in. The cave _seemed_ abandoned when he first came here to get out of the rain, but now that he is more alert he notices growling and shuffling coming from deeper in. Brown, dark reds and blues start appearing in the darkness along with a feral growl and Angelite's eyes widen.

Now he is really regretting leaving...

 **•*o｡..*･:..:･:..｡o*•**

 **Leaving this off on a cliff hanger again. Why? because the final chapter for this story is next.**

 **Sorry for posting this a day late though, I've been busy a lot lately and didn't have the time and energy. Final chapter will be posted on the day it's scheduled though, so no worries. I don't have very much else to say so I'll leave it off here.**

 **I hope everyone has a great week!**

 **~Sorceress**


	11. Together Again

Angelite backs out of the cave as the corrupted gem comes out of the darkness, shaped like an earth lion with purple fur and a white main, a purple five faceted gem on it's head where one of the eyes would be that has darker purple splotches all over it; a corrupted amethyst. The gem growls, showing sharp jagged teeth and Angelite feels he's breath quicken as the creature zeros in on him. The amethyst roars and pounces, Angelite just barely able to summon his wings and get away before the creature crushes him.

Angelite gathers the cold energy he has into his fist, shooting a wave of ice at the amethyst but the animal jumps out of the way. It leaps up and bats Angelite out of the air as if he is a fly, pinning him to the ground and making his wings lose form and become piles of snow on the wet ground. The creature looms over him and opens its mouth, prepared to bite when Angelite throws his hands up and blasts it away, cringing from the scream it let out from the attack.

Angelite gets to his feet to see the amethyst shake off the ice, snarling animalisticly and it begins circling him. Angelite clenches his fists, keeping a determined face even while internally he is panicking. He isn't a soldier or any kind of fighter like Adventurine, Sam and Andrew, he wasn't made for that. He was made as a seer and soother, a pretty music box that can't even do that much so how can he possibly be a warrior? He doesn't really have his own weapon either, and his control over ice is basic at best so-

Angelite gets a horrible idea even as the amethyst lunges. Angelite ducks out of the way, getting a scratch on his side for his troubles, but his mind isn't focused on the fight anymore. He does have a weapon, a terrible weapon that is the exact opposite of what it's supposed to do. He doesn't want to use it, but he won't last much longer if he doesn't. The creature pins him again and Angelite blasts it away once more with a beam of ice, tears falling once more as he stumbles to his feet.

"I'm sorry," he says before taking a deep breath. The corrupted gem charges and Angelite sings a lyricless less song, his tone full of guilt and sadness. The amethyst halts it's attack and screams again, louder this time as it paws at its head. Angelite clasps his hands and squeezes his eyes tight, trying to block out the gems agony even as he gets a mental image of its prism field trembling and jerking, the royal blues becoming more prominent until he hears the sound of breaking glass and the screams just...fall silent, The prism field popping and disappearing as if it were never there.

Angelite opens watery eyes and finds the creature gone, the only thing left of it being pieces of tiny gem shards. Angelite walks over and scoops the shards up in his hands, holding them to his chest as he begins to sob.

"I'm sorry, I'm s-sorry for doing this to you," he says brokenly, "I'm sorry for making you suffer until the e-end," he cries harder, the shards cutting into his hands as he holds them tighter, "I'm so sorry..."

The others find him like this, sitting in the rain and crying so brokenly that it made their chests hurt. Adventurine carefully walks up to him and says in a quiet voice, "Angelite..."

The blue gem sniffs, curling further in on himself if it was possible, "I had to do it, I...It would have killed me if I didn't..."

"What are you talking about?" Adventurine asks. Angelite opens his hands and flinches at the collective gasps. He shakes his head harshly, gritting his teeth as his hands close around the gem shards again.

"I'm a monster, I corrupted this poor thing and then had to make it suffer more by shattering it. I'm absolute filth!" His voice raises, "why do I exist?! I didn't ask to be made! I didn't ask to be defective! Why did Blue Diamond let me live!"

He finally opens his eyes and Dan's chest hurts at how dull and full of pain they are, "why can't I just die?" He whispers, "all I cause is pain..."

Adventurine sighs and kneels down next to the ravenet, gently prying his fingers open and taking the shards, "I don't know why Blue Diamond did what he did," he said, absently putting the pieces of amethyst in a light green bubble and sending it away before pulling Angelite into his arms, "but I know that I would never want you shattered, I said that I would protect you, and I've failed miserably at that, but that doesn't mean that I won't try again."

"Why?!" Angelite yelled, "why do you do that to yourself?! Venny, I'm..." Angelite shakes his head despondently, "I'm not worth it..."

Adventurine purses his lips, "you will never say that about yourself again! You are worth so much!" he pulls him closer, "if to no one else, to me you are worth it."

Angelite begins to struggle, pounding his fists on Adventurine's chest, "I'm not! I shattered a gem and I-"

The albino pushes Angelite back and shakes him, "and what?! I keep telling you that the corruption was not your fault! It's Red Diamond's fault!"

Angelite goes silent, stunned at Adventurine's vehemence. Adventurine takes his chance and looks Angelite straight in the eyes, narrowing his own, "it was Red Diamond that had us seperated. It was Red Diamond who ordered your gem to be harvested. It was **_Red Diamond_** that caused the corruption! As for shattering?"

He laughs bitterly, "love, you shattered one gem, a **_corrupted_** one at that. I shattered **_six_** gems just to get to you on that ship and I'll never regret it."

He pulls the mute gem towards him again, resting his chin on the other's shoulder as he rubs his back, "you call yourself a shatterer? Heh, that just makes us equal; if anything you should hate me for shattering more gems than you and not feeling an ounce of guilt for it."

Angelite hugs him back, finally finding his voice, "I could never hate you...you mean so much to me, more than even I can fathom."

The green gem smiles, "that's good to hear...Daniel."

Angelite jumps at the unexpected name, "Daniel?"

Adventurine nods, "I go by Dan now, so you should be Daniel yes? Since we're both two parts of Danny..." 'Dan' looks at him, "would you rather be called something else?"

Angelite hums thoughtfully, shaking his head after a moment, "no...I think it suits us, Dan and Daniel, put them together and you get-"

"Danny," Dan finishes, smiling as he pulls back, "I think 'Danny' needs to go back home with the Crystal Gems yeah? Unless you wanna be split up a bit longer..." his grin turns into a more wicked smirk, "I wouldn't mind either way~"

The now dubbed Daniel snorts and shoves Dan back, "heh ha! Be serious!"

Dan chuckles, "there's my snappy little snow flake," he pulls Daniel up and bows slightly, "how about this time we do this the right way?"

He smiles and brushes his lips against the back of Daniel's hand, a sparkle in his eyes, "care to fuse with me?"

Daniel giggles, and darker blue tint on his cheeks as he bows back, "of course."

Dan stands straight and pulls Daniel closer, one hand on the raven's waist while Daniel places his hand on the taller gem's upper arm. They clasp hands and Dan begins to hum a tune as they start Waltzing around the small clearing, Dan leading with Daniel following as if they'd danced a thousand times. Dan pulls away and starts swinging Daniel through the air by his hands, both laughing as their gems and bodies light up and they become one again.

Since the fusion isn't out of nowhere this time, Danny forms with a more balanced outfit, mostly black with accents of white here and there. Instead of multi streaked hair, his hair is predominantly white with a black lightning bolt streak running through it, though it is the same length as before. His eyes are the same, but this time he has a blind fold over his top pair of eyes, leaving the solid blue green ones free. Danny stretches his arms over his head, humming in a relaxed fashion before turning and smiling at the two gems who chose that time to come back in, having left to give Dan and Daniel some privacy.

"Good to see you again Danny," Sam says with a hand on her hip and a small smile.

"How do you feel?" Andrew asks.

Danny tilts his head, appearing to think before he gives them a cheeky grin.

"Happy."

 **•*o｡..*･:..:･:..｡o*•**

"And that's when I more or less was able to stick around permanently," Danny finishes, "Dan and Daniel had decided that no matter what, they would be there for each other. And I've been here ever since."

Ellie smiles gently, "that was a great story Danny, I'm glad you were able to sort yourself out," she hums, "well, you wouldn't be here if you didn't."

"Heh, it was still a bit rocky for a while," Danny allows with a wave of his hand, "they still had their own worries and issues, but I was able to deal with them without losing myself again."

Ellie nods giving Danny a hug, "thanks for telling me about yourself Danny."

"Sure thing Elle," he looks out the window and blinks when he sees the the sun peeking through, "woah, I didn't realize how long that would take; sorry for keeping you up."

"It's okay," Ellie says as she lays back down, "I got a nice story out of it, so it was worth it."

Danny ruffles her hair and smiles, "how bout this? Since it's your birthday, I'll let you sleep in. You can also have the day off from missions if you want."

"Hmhm. Thanks Danny..." Ellie drifts off.

Danny carefully gets off the bed and walks down into the living area of Ellie's room, a smile still on his face.

The temple door opens and Sam walks out of her room. Seeing Ellie asleep and Danny's satisfied look, Sam raises a brow and smirks, saying in a soft voice, "you told her the story?"

Danny nods, "yep. By the way, Ellie gets the day off from missions today if she wants."

Sam rolls her eyes, "I figured you'd say something like that, I told you to wait until later to tell her, but..."

Danny shrugs, "what can I say, I was impatient," he casts a grin over his shoulder, pulling his sunglasses out of no where and slipping them on, "try to top that present huh Sammy?" He snickers at Sam's growl, making the two gems at the bottom of the star light up and going into his room.

"Dan, you cheeky son if a-" Sam huffs, her lips turning up into a rueful smile as she shakes her head at the door, "guess I'll start with breakfast duty..."

 **Final A/N**

 **This is the final chapter of I'm here, it's been quite a ride huh? I'd like to thank all those who wanted to stay for the trip, you are all lovely people, including the ghost readers (you know who you are).**

 **If this seems like a rushed ending, then I apologize, it just seemed like a good place to end this. Also considering the fact that Danny is telling this story, he has to make it concise and the fact that the story went on until the sun came up...well, if he told his whole history it would probably have gone on for days time wise and obviously they have other things they need to do. I think it's a nice birthday present for Ellie though, don't you? :)**

 **Thank you all again for reading, I hope all of you have a great week, life whatever you're doing. I'll see all of you sometime in Fanfiction okay? :)**

 **~Sorceress**


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